525 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND WADE, Gordon Vance Gordon was born in Ingersoll, Ontario on August 12, 1926. He had a varied military career, starting as a merchant seaman on the Great Lakes as a young man. He joined the Army at seventeen, on March 24, 1945, and in 1950 he earned his wings in Rivers, Manitoba. In 1954, he switched to the RCAF. While in Korea, they “adopted” a young orphan named Wee Willy, and had a uniform made for him. “Willy” never forgot the kindness shown by the RCR’s and has visited Wolseley Barracks in London, ON. Gordon married Lila Mae Jackson in 1950 and had three kids. While in the RCAF, he worked in Safety Systems at 6th in Trenton, then Moncton, Rockliffe, Zweibrucken, Germany (3 wing) and back to Ottawa to Uplands. He retired on March 16, 1972, as a L/C, moved to Beckwith Township, enjoying the farm, his family, his dogs and travelling the world. He was a member of Carleton Place Legion Branch 192 for 35 years. Gordon passed away on November 10, 2007. WAGNER, Melville “Ross” Ross was born in Elderslie Township, Bruce County, Ontario on April 10, 1923. He joined the RCAF on February 3, 1943 and served as an air frame mechanic with the #433 Porcupine Squadron (Lancaster Bombers) in Canada and England during World War II. While in England, he was based at the Skipton-on-Swale Air Base where he was in charge of the ground crew for one of the bombers and had to fly with the air crew on every seventh or eighth sortie. On one of the flights, he was down in the bomb bay when the bombs were being dropped. He had a direct view of the death and destruction they caused. It shocked him. After the end of the war, Ross spent three months defusing bombs and loading them onto planes so they could be dumped in the North Sea. He was discharged on March 5, 1946. In addition to the usual military service medals, Ross received a medal for service in Bomber Command and in 1967 he received the Canadian Centennial Medal. He was a member of the Chesley Legion Branch 144 for over 50 years. Ross passed away on February 7, 1999. WADE, Joseph Vance “Joe” Joseph was born in Newton Stewart, Scotland on January 8, 1895. He immigrated to Canada with his widowed mother and family in 1909, to live in Ingersoll, Ontario, where his uncle, James Vance had established himself with the Noxon Mfg. Co. Following his brothers, David, James, Robert and Sam, Joe enlisted in London, Ontario on June 16, 1915. In 1915, a private earned 15.00 a month. After arriving in England for training in 1915, he was sent to France, where he was a machine gunner, bulger, and motorcycle courier, until he was demobilized on May 25, 1919. Joe married Mary Moir in 1922. They went on to have three kids. Joe and his brother James were shoemakers, as was their father. They had a shoe shop “Wade’s Modern Shoe Repair” in Ingersoll. He moved to Detroit and sold insurance, but returned to Ingersoll, playing his bugle at Remembrance Day ceremonies for many, many years. Joe died in Ottawa in 1977.
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